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VisionMachine

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About VisionMachine

  • Birthday May 22

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Rhode Island
  • Program
    Computer Science

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  1. You mean it is not normal to go out in a snowstorm, on slippery roads to get twinkies and burgers from BK? I have been dealing with the same issue -- I tend to seek comfort in food. And the stress of waiting just makes me reach for that extra hamburger. Worse still, I am not a shabby cook and to burn off the obsessive energy of waiting, I cook and cook a lot. So, I currently have a chocolate frosting glazed layered chocolate cake, some almond milk caramel pudding, lots of coconut macaroons, and meat in my fridge. The only cheery spot in the whole situation is that somehow my boyfriend is pleased as a punch whenever he opens the refrigerator for a snack. And I add to my list of obsession by standing on the weighing scale and debating whether to blame it on the faulty measurement of the scale. Does Weight Watchers really help? I know they have tremendous appeal - but how food-deprived do you end up feeling on joining Weight Watchers?
  2. @grotesqueidols I agree with all what you say. My comments of course are purely tongue in cheek. Most professors reviewing my application are probably paid 5 times as much for the same time spent as a consultant. So, I do know that the application fee only goes so far. There are overworked admins (I see my own dept secretary laboriously sifting through piles!) and not to mention the tremendous amount of paperwork that needs to go through everywhere. I am always pleasant to admins in particular and will usually give them a small thank you card if they did something for me or some chocolates. Even if an admin is rude to me, I know it not to take it personally. My whole point in all of this is that I am merely playing out a parody of a desperate waiting applicant. When I am just sitting there twiddling my thumbs (and procrastinating by the way on work to be done!), thoughts -- evil thoughts, fantastical thoughts play out in my mind. And the stony silence from the application process does not help. To be honest -- most of us are like that youtube girlfriend hounding her boyfriend who is unavailable due to his phone failing, you know -- "Where are you?" "Why aren't you answering my calls?" "If you don't call me back soon, our relationship is over" "I am sorry honey, please call me back..." "Oh my god... what did I do wrong?"... :-) P.S: Thank you for all the work you did at BU for which you were not acknowledged!
  3. Gay people are certainly not a rarity amongst grad students. It's just that they either prefer to keep that part of their life separate (very easy to do if you are in sciences and engineering like me) or keep it under wraps. I have realized that as long as you do not have any problems acknowledging yourself, usually others do not too. My current adviser found I was, when I brought my boyfriend to his grad student home party. I introduced my boyfriend just as any other straight person would and no one batted an eyelid. My professor is always very cordial and makes sure to inquire about my boyfriend in social contexts. I have actively taken part in my university's GLBT center, but I found the atmosphere to be very focused towards the undergraduates and confused freshmen. It gets tiring after a while. It is very rare for universities to have some focus groups specifically for graduate gay students. However, there are other resources always. I have always found that if you need to socialize in a mature, non-party context, then volunteering at your local PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is always excellent. Joining gay literary clubs is another way to socialize and mingle around -- the most important thing I can say to someone who is single, gay, and a graduate student is to go out and seek such resources. It is important to be amongst other gay educated people and make friends (just friends... really!). Or if you're the leader kind, make your own group. :-)
  4. Waiting for at least one of 6 lights to turn green

  5. Hmmm.... Oh well. Seems like many have heard from at least one of their schools. But I am still stuck with nothing, nada. The only way I am cheering myself up is by repeating to myself -- "Hey, at least it's not a rejection yet!" But to be honest, the best thing to do is to look at so many things you can thankful for around you. Sit down with a hot soothing cup of chamomile tea and try to keep up the mask of pleasant sanity. I hope congress passes a law for Universities to mandatory reply a PAYING applicant enquiry within 24 hours of the DETAILED status of their application. But oh wait - they are busy right now demolishing health care reform for Americans. Oh well.. Back to square one.
  6. Ha Ha Ha! :-) You guys are hilarious! Who says grad students do not have a sense of humor!! Taking off on Venetia's idea: 10. Compulsory Twittering for AdCom Members Really universities should make it mandatory for every prof to twitter continuously. I believe messages like these would be considered ok - "Hey, just sat on the loo with a couple of SOPs @WonderfulApplicant -- man, that was a wonderful passage" 11. Comprehensive Exams for AdCom Members Before AdComs make a final decision, they should be required to take a 3 hours comprehensive exam on applications. Questions should be asked such as "Summarize in your own words the SOP of Applied Candidate X?" and "If Candidate X has excellent GREs, a fairly Ok SOP, and 2 excellent LOR, where as Candidate Y has average GRE, excellent SOP, and 3 good LORs - Who would be admitted ? Justify your answer. You can assume an above average GPA for both." Only the profs who have thoroughly prepared and passed their Comprehensive exams should be allowed to sit in the AdCom meeting, and tie this to their tenure requirements - so all the profs go -- "Oh Man, I am so screwed, my AdCom Comprehensive is tomorrow and I still have to read these 50 applications!" :-)
  7. If life were perfect, here is how it would (or rather should) play out for waiting grad applicants: 1. Thunderous applause on joining any internet forum related to applications Whenever a new user wonderfully announces themselves that they have been lurking a long time and just now mustered up the courage to join and post something. They should be given standing ovation. A bouquet of flowers should be promptly dispatched along with a box of chocolates. A reminder pamphlet on how to "Not Seek Comfort in Food and Chocolates while you wait" should be supplied too. 2. Intelligent Application Systems With so many working in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence (including this author), it should be so not difficult to provide instantaneous chances on the application forms. You just put in your GPA, GRE, Undergrad grades, Grad grades, and the system should give you your chances instantaneously. Responses could range from "What the heck are you thinking applying to this school?" to "Congratulations you golden child you" or even "You are the ring bearer, the chosen one. The prophecy is fulfilled. Gandalf will be with you shortly" (the last one might be very appropriate for Yale). What do I hear? -- What about SOPs and LORs? Well, for all the candidates the hefty application fee should be used to send them an embossed copy of their SOP via mail. In case, an applicant is rejected due to an LOR, the name of the recommender should be printed in big black letters and given back to the applicant with the title - "He/She is the one who destroyed your dreams --" (Bonus points, if the application system even puts in the recommender's address and office hours. 3. Free Psychological Counseling at Applied Schools To cope with waiting, all candidates should be referred to school's doctors (or even students pretending to doctors) -- the applicants feel they get therapy and the school can secretly use this as a tool to weed out the sociopaths (You know them - the kind who lurk around in the University Library toilet just a bit longer than necessary! -- I mean they are losing valuable school time which could otherwise be spent on research!!) 4. Student Carolling Season For Professors January/February should be declared by universities as official carolling season. Groups of graduate students/applicants should sing in front of every admission committee professor's office, classics such as: "Don't forget you were once a grad student.. Fa La La La..la la la. Read the application carefully... Fa La La La..la la la." "I am dreaming of full funding... with summer support to boot". 5. Empathetic Rejection Letters If the school is rejecting the applicant, then the school should make it amply clear how much they regret that decision. Statements like these can be helpful -- "You were forever and ever our first choice. We even had dreams about reading your application. Unfortunately the other candidate had to be admitted because they are connected to the mafia and holding our families ransom. We appeal to your benevolent nature to forgive us this time." or "OMG, the other suckers on this committee soo totally voted me out. I quit the adcom meeting over you and I am even leaving the university to come and work with you. Don't worry we'll manage something together. It is their loss after all. Your Best Bud xoxoxo POI" Think of any others? Just add them on. (BTW, I am just another nervously waiting grad applicant like everyone else over here. Sadly, not one experience sets me apart from anyone else in this forum - but hey at least we can all have a good laugh about it? :-))
  8. The usual list for someone in Northeast -- Brown, Harvard, Columbia, NYU, UPenn, and BU
  9. With the increased frequencies of acceptances/rejections posted in the results forum for Computer Science PhD, I am kinda perplexed that I am yet to hear from any of the schools that I have applied to. I mean not even an email, or phone call, or a status update on the website (all my applications are complete though - I got that sure soon after the deadline), and I have applied to 6 of them. Although statistically speaking (and after skimming this forum) I have figured that - 1 or 2 may never revert back, but a stony silence from all 6 of them? Is it too early in the game? Or are they just biding their time (because sending a big batch of reject letters is probably logistically easy (for the mail merge program at least))? (Or is that my mind playing dirty tricks on me -- delay implies rejection?) So how many of you are in this apparently shrinking pool of "ignored" applicants? -- "ignored" means really IGNORED.. no phone call, no titillating ambiguous emails, no interviews, no response... just "Under Review" or "Complete and Submitted" in the application forms? Around what date do the schools finish sending out most acceptances and then just largely send out rejects? (I mean I can finally abandon my obsessiveness with this whole thing (yeah yeah, I know we're all the same!) and look forward...)
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